so Secondly some againe are maliciously massacred with dishonourable cruelties they are puld the flesh from the bones and burnt to ashes c. None of all these did fall to our Saviour these are personall things they belong not to the nature of man and therefore it was no way requisite that Christ should undergoe those kinds of death marke these two passages to open it a little Acts 2.27 quoted out of Psalme 16.10 Thou wilt not leave my soule in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption Now the Saints of God doe see corruption but this was a dishonourable infirmitie for Christ though he suffered for us yet hee raised up himselfe from the vildnesse of the grave and saw no corruption and therefore it was no dishonour to him Iohn 19.33 36. When the souldiers found our Saviour dead they brake not his legs that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith not a bone of him shall bee broken Whatsoever dishonour our Saviour Christ did submit himselfe unto he was willing to suffer but what was not by Law required and what was not fit for him to suffer that Christ would not suffer the Jewes to doe unto him for the Law did not require this in the curse that his legs should bee broken and therefore Christ would not undergoe it this is the third conclusion Vse 1 From the former truth that our Saviour Christ did die this naturall death I gather thus much it is a marvellous sweet cordiall to all the Saints of God upon their sicke beds it is a ground of strong consolation as the Apostle saith to beare up the hearts of Gods people in the day of death that they may lift up their heads with comfort and looke grizzeld death in the face with courage and boldnesse for the death of Christ hath taken away the evill of thy death therefore be not thou troubled with it nor dismaid by it there is no bitternesse in that pill nor no venome in that cup to thee for the poyson is gone therefore bee not you troubled with it whensoever God sends it upon you for the sharpest death of a Saint of God is like a humble Bee that hath no sting in it which a childe may play withall and not be hurt and thus Saint Paul plaid with death 1 Cor. 15.55 Oh death where is thy sting as if he should say the wicked feare death because the sting is in it to them but that sting is taken away from mee by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ when Christ went downe into the grave he sugered it and made it sweet and easie as a bed of Downe for beleevers to rest upon There are three privileges which every beleever may challenge upon his deathbed the first is this First every beleever may and should under the authoritie of mercy challenge mercy and in the vertue of the death of Christ he should boldly lay downe his life 1 Thes 4.16 The dead in Christ shall rise first that is the value of the phrase in the vertue of the death of Christ wee die also that as he died by his owne power rose againe so also wee die that wee may rise againe The Saints of God die that they may bee like to Christ and be raised againe and so bee for ever happy with Christ this is the particular good that the death of Christ communicates to the faithfull ones 1 Cor. 15.36 Thou foole that which thou somest it is not quickned unlesse it die it must first be corrupted that it may grow againe into an eare of corne the meaning is a man therefore dies that he may rise againe the body must lie downe in the dust 1 Cor. 15.53 This corruption must put on incorruption and this mortalitie must put on immortalitie Now corruption cannot put on incorruption nor mortalitie cannot put on immortalitie so long as wee are here the body of Adam could not be made immortall of it selfe the frame of it would not affoord so much for Adams body needed meat and had it but immortall bodies need no food but live by the power of Gods Spirit therefore Christ tooke downe the frame of this nature that hee might make it a more excellent frame It is therefore said that a Christian dies rather in the authoritie of mercy than justice that as Christ died and rose again so Christ will have all his servants die that hee may of a corrupt nature and a mortall body make an immortall body he will make it immortall which nature it selfe no not in its perfection could not doe this is the first privilege A second privilege which beleevers receive is this the death of the beleever puts an end to all his sinnes and miseries and sorrowes that when the soule and body shall part in sunder then sin shall depart from both and when they goe out of this life they shall goe from all the miseries of this life we shall never bee more pestered with lusts and corruptions we shall never bee drawne from the Lord more Satan is now busie but when the Saints of God die there is a separation from all sinnes from all sorrowes from all temptations never to be assaulted more this is the meaning of that place 2 Cor. 4.10 Everywhere we beare about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Iesus that the life also of Iesus may be made manifest in our mortall bodies the meaning is this Christ by his death did subdue sinne and now by the sorrowes and troubles he suffered and by the power of his death there is a totall separation made from sin in soule and body therefore when as in the power of Christs death we can lay downe these bodies then are we separated from sinne this is to beare about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus this is quite contrarie in every unbeleever for death naturall in an unbeleever is but the very beginning of all their other plagues they sip of Gods vengeance now but they shall have the full cup then sinne in them now is restrained but then their sinnes shall take full possession of them Satan now doth but tempt them but then â—e shall take possession of them as it is said of the rich foole in the Gospell This night shall they fetch away thy soule and then as they shall bee for ever plagued so they shall be for ever sinfull nothing but sinne shall be in them they shall be altogether proud and for ever proud they shall be altogether malicious and for ever malicious and the devils shall drag the soule of the wicked out of the body downe to hell for evermore and there shall tyranize over it for ever but on the contrary it is not so with the Saints the end of their life is but the beginning of another they goe from a vale of teares to a haven of happinesse Thirdly the death of the beleever is a mean to bring and estate them into the full possession of all
of the faithfull p. 202 For the opening of the Doctrine three questions are to bee answered Question 1. What were the kindes of punishments which Christ did suffer and how farre did bee suffer them Answer First Christ did suffer death naturall that is the dissolution of soule and body p. 210 How far our Saviour did suffer death naturall appeareth in three conclusions Conclusion 1. Whatsoever did appertaine to the substance and essentials of the first death that Christ did suffer p. 210 Conclusion 2. Christ did undertake to die the death of the crosse a most shamefull and base death only appropriated to the basest malefactors that hee might thereby shew the hainousnesse of sinne which deserveth the worst death of all p. 211 Conclusion 3. Those dishonorable infirmities which befell men because of the infirmitie of the flesh as the having the body to rot in the grave to be torne in peeces our Saviour would not undergoe these because hee had no need to suffer these p. 206 Use 1. It is a sweet cordiall to all the Saints of God upon their death beds for the death of Christ hath taken away the evill of death p. 207 Secondly Christ did also suffer in his soule in that there was a reall withdrawing of the mercy and compassion of God p. 213 Secondly there was a reall inflicting of the indignation of the Lord and that fils the soule of a poore creature p. 214 Question 2. How farre our Saviour suffered these paines Answer This is to bee knowne in these five conclusions Conclusion 1. It is possile that some paines of hell may be suffered in this life therefore the living of our Saviour in this life is no hinderance but that he might undergoe them p. 215 Conclusion 2. Some paines of Hell were endured by Christ and yet the union of the Manhood with the Godhead might still be untouched p. 216 Conclusion 3. Our Saviour suffered paine in his soule as hee was our Mediatour in our roome and in our stead p. 218 Conclusion 4. Whatsoever punishment proceeded from the Father our Saviour tooke it upon himselfe yet so as that he neither had personal sin to deserve it neither did he sin in bearing of it as the wicked doe which are damned p. 220. Conclusion 5. The desperation of a damned soule in hell and the eternity of torments they are no essentials of the second death and therefore they could not nor ought not to be suffered by our Saviour p. 227 Use 1. It is a word of information labour from hence to see the hainousnesse of sinne and to hate it because it hath brought all this evill upon thy Saviour and would have brought the same upon thee had not the Lord Iesus stepped in between thee and the wrath of the Father p. 234 Use 2. Did our Saviour suffer these paines then see here the strictnesse of Gods justice p. 241 Question 3. When did our Saviour beginne these sufferings Answer Our Sauiour did beginne the paines of the naturall death from his cradle to his grave he began to die as soone as hee began to live p. 245 Secondly our Saviour did suffer these paines in his soule partly in the garden partly upon the crosse p. 247 Question 3. Whether our Saviour did suffer in body alone or in soule alone or in both Answer Christ did properly and immediately suffer the wrath of God in his soule as well as hee did the paines of death in his body p. 249 Use 1. Is it so was the Lord Iesus driven to this astonishment and to all this misery then let every soule learne from hence what will be the fruit of sinne and what hee may expect from sinne p. 260 Reason 1. Is taken from the divine justice of God which required this by way of satisfaction as being onely sutable and agreeable to the divine justice of God by reason of sinne p. 283 Reason 2. Is taken from the office of Christ because our Saviour was our suretie and so he was bound to it by faithfulnesse p. 287 Use 1. It is a word of confutation and it directly meets with Popish Purgatory p. 288 Use 2. It teacheth us that all the troubles miseries afflictions either inward or outward they cannot properly bee called punishments inflicted upon the faithfull but chastisements p. 289 Use 3. It is a word of comfort to all you that are beleevers you have heard the treasures of mercy and the death of our Lord Iesus Christ laid open view them and take them all for your comfort p. 293 FINIS Severall Treatises of this AUTHOUR 1 THE unbeleevers preparing for Christ out of Revelations 22.17 1 Corinth 2.14 Ezekiel 11.19 Luke 19.42 Matthew 20.3 4 5 6. Iohn 6.44 2 The soules preparation for Christ or a Treatise of Contrition on Acts 2.37 3 The Soules humiliation on Luke 15. verses 15 16 17 18. 4 The Soules vocation or effectuall calling to Christ on Iohn 6.45 5 The Soules union with Christ 1 Corin. 6.17 6 The Soules benefit from union with Christ on 1 Cor. 1.30 7 The Soules justification eleven Sermons on 2 Corin. 5.21 8 Sermons on Iudges 10.23 Sermons on Psalme 119.29 Sermons on Proverbs 1.28 29. Sermons on 2 Tim. 3.5 THE SOVLES union with CHRIST 1 CORIN 6.17 He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit WE told you that the application of the merits of Christ consists especially in two things First the preparation of the soule for Christ Secondly the ingrafting or the knitting of the soule to the Lord Jesus Christ Of this preparation wee have heretofore largely treated partly in contrition where the soule is cut off from sinne partly in humiliation whereby the soule is cut off from it selfe whereby the Lord rases the foundation of all carnall confidence whereby a man rests upon his owne privileges and performances and makes his services his Saviour either the soule seeth no need to depart from sinne or else it thinke it can helpe it selfe out of sinne when both these are removed from the soule then it is fitted to receive the Lord Jesus Christ Secondly the soule comes to be ingrafted into Christ and that hath two parts First the calling of the sinner or the putting of the soule into Christ Secondly the growing of the soule with Christ these two take up the nature of ingrafting a sinner into the stock First it is put into the stock Secondly being put into the stock it growes together with the stock these two things are answerable in the soule The former of these two wee have largely treated of and fully finished in the great worke of vocation when the Lord brings the sinner to himselfe by the call of mercie and the voice of the Gospell we are now to proceed and we have made some entrance into the second and that is the growing of the soule together with Christ for though the graft be in the stock yet it cannot be fruitfull unlesse it grow together with the stock now this growing together
is this Doctrine Our Saviour Christ never yeelded the least improvement of heart to sinne neither did hee ever commit the least sinne in his life and conversation our Saviour Christ knew no sinne at all by experience this is that which all the types and sacrifices of the old Law did signifie which were all as so many severall testimonies of the holinesse and puritie of the Lord Jesus Christ therefore he was called the Lambe without blemish and it was prophesied of him in Esay 53.9 That he had done no wickednesse neither was deceit found in his mouth and his enemy Pilate said I finde no fault in him at all and our Saviour himselfe saith the Prince of this world commeth and hath nought in mee that is no sinne Iohn 14.30 The arguments are briefly these Reason Looke into the Nature of our Saviour and the Office of our Saviour looke into his Manhood as he was perfect Man for the seed of the woman was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost and was purged and sanctified and the course of originall sinne was stayed and when the body was framed the Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ and all the fulnesse of grace was in him then the point must needs bee cleere that there was no evill in him no mutabilitie to incline to any evil nor no power could prevaile with him to draw him to any evill Againe looke into the Office of our Saviour for he that came to be a sacrifice for sinne must needs want sinne or else he could not be a sacrifice for sinne so the point is cleere we come now to the application Vse 1 The first use is a word of exhortation and it ought to provoke all you that are faithfull and are beleevers to conforme your hearts and conversations answerable to the heart and life of Christ did not Christ give the least improvement of heart to any sinne nor practise the least sinne in any measure then goe thou and doe likewise be thou like thy Saviour that thou mayest have some evidence that thou hast a title unto him It is that which the Apostle makes as a speciall collection Have no fellowship with the unfruitfull workes of darknesse but bee you followers of God as deare children Ephes 5.1 Christ had no sinne nor fellowship with sinne let his course and practice bee thy copie But some will say what would you have us to bee Saints here on earth â— how can it be that we should know no sin when we have such a body of death hanging upon us yes we may know no sinne though it doe hang about us the Apostle doth not say equall God in holinesse but imitate him and he doth not say follow him fully but even as deare children Now though the childe cannot goe so fast as the father yet he will follow as fast as he can and when hee hath done what he can then he cries to his father to help him and carrie him to the journeyes end and so ought we to doe nay so we will doe if we are true children and not bastards the Father is infinitely full of holinesse Follow God as deare children doe what you can and then â—rie to him to inable you to doe what you cannot doe It was the practice of the Prophet David Psalme 63.1 My soule thirsteth for thee and my heart longeth after thee therefore in the 119. Psalme 4 5. Thou hast commanded to keepe thy Commandements diligently oh that my heart meâ— so directed thaâ— I might doe it as if hee had said I know the Law requireth it and it is my dutie to doe it helpe Lord and take Lord and carry Lord thy poore servant and lead mee into the land of righteousnesse it is an evidence of one that is borne of God 1 Iohn 5.18 Whosoever is borne of God sinneth not and the evill one toucheth him not so if you are such as have Christ Jesus formed in you you will labour to keepe your selves that the wicked one touch you not hee doth not say hee will not entertaine it but he will not keep company with it A man must doe by sinne as wee would do by a man whose coÌ„pany we shun if we would not have acquaintance with him then we carry our selves strangely to him if he call we will not answer if he knocke we will not open we keep our selves close that wee may not change a word with him so it will bee with every one of you that are borne of God you will have nothing to doe with your old pettish lusts and base humours and haunts of spirits and whomsoever it be that hath had dalliance with you heretofore you will avoid the place and presence of them and say I know not those distempers nor the place not occasions of them I will meddle with them no more I will not owne them I have done it too too much already if they come I will not yeeld and if they follow I will flee I have read an old story of a man that was carried away much by a harlot at last the Lord meets him and opened his eyes and humbled his soule and brought him out of his sinfull condition many a day after the harlot met him againe and the man would not looke on her and shee began to seft kindnesse upon him and said I am she you know wee have had much sweet dalliance together Oh but saith he blessed be God I am not I that is I am not the man that I was before so should we though wee are nothing but sinne by nature and know nothing but corruption yet if the old sluggishnesse and stubbornnes of heart and haughtinesse that we have too too much received if they come and say we are the darlings that have had much sweet fellowship and communion with you make them answer and say I am not the man I will have no more to doe with you Let every heart be here incouraged not to regard the base respects of sinne or of the world they will say it is not good to bee too holy and too precise make answer and say I cannot bee too holy Jesus Christ knew no sinne the heart and life of Jesus Christ is that which wee ought to respect and imitate Now I come to the main proposition and that is this that the debt of the sinner is charged upon our Saviour so saith the description and so say the words of the Text conceive here thus much that our Saviour had the debt of a sinner charged upon him partly by imputation and partly by personall performance he did performe the payment personally the debt was by imputation but the payment was by reall and personall performance and as our sinnes and debts were made his by imputation so the payment was his really laid downe and suffered for us Two things I must lay downe before I can open the point First what is meant by sinne Secondly why Christ is said to be made sin First what is meant by sinne Answer
bee made a sacrifice for sinne and beare the punishment of sinne If Christ became a debtor for us then he must also lay downe the payment of the debt onely here remember this consider the bounds and limits of this mercy of the Lord it is limited onely to the faithfull they onely share therein and are partakers of that benefit that comes by the sufferings of Christ To prove this Doctrine looke Hebrewes 2.17 compare it with Hebrewes 4.15 In chap. 2.17 the text saith Wherefore it behoved him to bee made like unto his brethren in all things and in chap. 4.15 He was tempted in all things like unto us sinne onely excepted for there were no punishments excepted as appeareth in the former place therefore in Esay 53.5 6 7 8. the whole chapter is a full description of the punishments of our Saviour and you shall finde these three degrees of it in the afornamed verses Hee was stricken and so stricken that hee was wounded and so wounded that hee was bruised for our transgressions and then in the 6. verse it is very pithily laid downe All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquitie of us all that is the punishments of us all they were laid that is God made all the sorrowes and all the punishments of all the faithfull to meet upon our Saviour It is a terme taken from warre when an army is levied out every towne and countie sets out so many men and they all meet at such a place such a day so every faithfull soule sets out miseries and mans out afflictions and they all levie out an army of sorrowes and they all meet upon our Saviour all those sinnes and miseries of the godly from one end of the world to the other from east to west from north to south they run amain upon our Saviour and besiege the soule and body of him and they lie heavie upon him the chastisement of our peace was upon him that is it overwhelmed him for the while and made him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Another proofe of this point is Gal. 3.13 The text saith Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us as it is written cursed be every one that hangeth on a tree He that was made such a curse for us as the Law did require and such a curse as wherein the Law was satisfied even he was made a full curse for us and bore all the punishment due to us but hee was made such a curse as the Law prefigured and wherein the Law was satisfied and therefore he must needs beare whatsoever the Law required and therefore I may say to the faithfull soule as Paul said to Philemon concerning Onesimus If he hath hurt thee or oweth thee ought set that upon my score so saith our Saviour whatsoever punishments the faithfull have deserved by their sinnes I will beare it and answer it Now for the opening of the Doctrine give mee leave to open these three questions Quest. 1 First what were the kindes of punishment which Christ did suffer and how farre did he suffer them Quest. 2 Secondly when did those sufferings begin and when did they end Quest. 3 Thirdly whether did he suffer them in soule or in body or in both Quest. 1 First what were the punishments that our Saviour suffered of what kinds were they Answer For answer hereunto hee suffered the pains of the first death by the first death I mean the death naturall when the frame of the body and soule was taken downe and those two old familiar friends were parted this death our Saviour did suffer but if you aske mee how farre he did suffer the death naturall let me answer it in three conclusions First whatsoever appertaines to the substance and the essentials of the first death that is the desolation of soule and body that our Saviour Christ did suffer for that onely was threatned unto Adam by reason of his sin therefore Christ needed not to suffer any thing but that which was threatned in Genesis 2.17 The curse threatned was this In the day that thou dost eat thereof thou shalt die the death the curse doth not mention many deaths nor doth it punctually set forth any one death but whatsoever death it is it is left indifferently to the choyce of our Saviour this I speake to wipe away a carnall cavill that is cast upon this truth by some that would diminish the sufferings of Christ If Christ did suffer punishment for all then why was hee not stoned with stones as Steven was and why was hee not sawne in peeces or burnt or the like The force of the argument followes not our Saviour was not bound to suffer many deaths nay the curse doth not intimate any one death in particular but onely death in the generall Now say they if our Saviour suffered all the punishments of the faithfull then hee suffered so many particular deaths the argument is false for looke how Adam being in the root of all mankinde and committed sinne looke what death he deserved that death our Saviour was to suffer and it was required of him and this death our Saviour undertooke but when Adam had committed sinne there were not many deaths denounced nay nor any one particular death but onely death in the generall and therefore death in the generall being onely threatned death in the generall our Saviour was onely bound to suffer Secondly though the curse doth not require any one particular death and say thou shalt bee stoned or sawne in peeces or the like yet that the Lord might shew the hainousnesse of sinne which deserves the worst death of all and to expresse the greatnesse of the lâ—â—e of Christ that was contented to die in that manner and that God the Father might shew his justice in punishing of sinne for this end God the Father appointed it and Christ undertooke it to die the death of the crosse a most shamefull and base death onely appropriate to the basest malefactors now Christ did willingly submit himselfe to this and God the Father did lay this upon Christ that sinne might appeare to bee most hainous and that sinne might be hated and Christ might appeare most mercifull and gracious and holy in loathing sinne as Philippians 2.6 8. Our Saviour being equall with the Father and thought it no robbery so to be yet he humbled himselfe and tooke on him the forme of a servant and became obedient to the death even the death of the crosse Thirdly those dishonourable infirmities which befall men because of the infirmitie of the flesh because they cannot avoid them and those dishonourable cruelties which are laid upon some men as to bee torne in peeces with wilde horses our Saviour had no need to suffer these First those dishonorable infirmities as the rotting of the body in the grave and returning to its own proper elemeÌ„ts the body of Christ did not
had undertaken these cautions I thought good to adde to stop the mouthed of all cavils that may arise in the hearts of those that are weake for the ground of Christs sufferings was freely and willingly according to the promise and agreement which was betweene the Father and himselfe Quest. 3 The third question followes and that is this whether our Saviour did suffer in body alone or in soule alone or in both Answer The answer apparantly and punctually is this Christ did properly and immediatly suffer the wrath of God in his soule as well as hee did the paines of death in his body hee did not onely suffer by communion and consent betweene the soule and the body as namely therefore the soule is pierced because the body is pierced no but he did properly and immediately receive and suffer the wrath of God in his soule as well as his body did death The Scripture doth expresse it this way and the Prophet foretold this in Esay 63.10 God shall make his soule an offering for sin you know every offering implies a full payment they did use to confesse their sinnes over the sacrifice and then to slay it intimating that the sacrifice was to undergoe whatsoever punishment was due unto their sinnes and so did Christ doe in bearing our sinnes nay Christ himselfe saith so Matthew 26.38 My soule is very heavie and sorrowfull even unto the death and that this must needs be the meaning of the text it shall appeare by further explication and therefore give mee leave to handle all the particulars of the sufferings of our Saviour and for our proceeding herein that I may be plaine and that this doctrine may drop as the dew and that every spire of grasse may receive some sap and sweetnesse and spirituall moisture there from let me doe two things wherein I will shew you that the sufferings of our Saviour were done partly in the garden and partly upon the crosse and for his agony in the garden let me doe two things First I will shew you what the Scripture saith of that agonie in the 14. of Saint Marke and in the 26. of Matthew Secondly I will make it good that those sufferings were most grievous sufferings which hee suffered in his soule For the first what our Saviour suffered when he was in that agony in the garden when he crieth out Father if it be possible let this cap passe from me The Scripture discovers the pith of all that anguish of soule and the whole compasse of it what it was that did thus fill the soule of our Saviour and that is in these two things and you shall finde them both in Marke 13.33 where the text saith when our Saviour was to enter into the combate he saith thus hee beganne to his amazed and to be very heavie let me expresse them thus hee beganne to bee driven to an astonishment and to have his soule fild with the indignation of the Lord. First our Saviour Christ foreseeing the wrath of God and the combate of God the Father comming against him hee began to be amazed the word in the originall is this That so you may see the depth of the distres and the bottome of the cup. The word amazement comes from a word that signifies to bee in a stand or to be astonished such a sorrow as men use to have for the losse of some deare friend nay the preposition in that which is added signifies a griefe beyond astonishment whatsoever griefe could befall a creature without sinne that all befell our Saviour this word carries two things with it First there comes an admiration from the suddennesse of the thing Secondly a stroke of errour which smiteth upon the soule with the admiration of it as when a sudden and an unwonted and an intolerable evil beginneth to seize upon a man and the stroke of some terrour and feâ—â— strikes in and drives the soule to an amaze and insomuch that the heart saith good Lord what will this come to if this befall mee what shall become of mee this is astonishment The second part is this and that goes further and our translation expresseth it to the full My soule beginnes to be very heavie that 's our translation but the word goes a degree further when this sorrow act onely strooke and shooke the heart of our Saviour with the suddennesse of it but it entred into his soule and fild it abundantly and rackt it to the uttermost of the abilities of nature to beare it shall I deale nakedly this word heavie carries two things with it First that the soule of our Saviour was surcharged and fild being full with the indignation of the Lord and that heavy vexation that lay upon him for so the word implies abundance of misery which doth beare downe the heart of a poore creature but this was not in the Lord Jesus Christ though his soule were filled brimme full of the indignation of the Lord yet hee was not overcharged with it Secondly hence it followes that all the faculties of the whole nature of the soule of our Saviour they gathered up themselves and they drew up all their forces to beare up themselves against the wrath of the Lord which was now comming upon them all the powers of his soule the minde and the memory and hope and feare they were all gathered up as in time of warre the souldiers come all forth from their garrisons to close in the maine battell so the Lord Jesus foresaw the wrath of the Father comming against him and hee drew forth all his abilities and left all other imployments wholly and brought them to fence and to fortifie themselves to beare this wrath of the Lord as if our Saviour had said Come yee all hither and help to beare up my soule against the unsupportable wrath of God this is the very skirt and selvedge of the word yet observe this by the way our Saviour was not deprived of this worke of any of his abilities but onely they were cald off from all other imployments and they wholly betooke themselves to beane the wrath of the Lord as the maine worke which now did lie upon them and this may be done and was done by our Saviour and yet without sinne As it is with a clocke a man may stoâ— the wheels upon force and make them stand still though there bee no distemper in the wheels causing it but onely the hand which stops it So it was with Christ there was no infirmitie in the minde or memorie of our Saviour but the hand of God was so heavie upon him and the wrath of God so seized upon him that all other actions ceased and hee attended to no other thing but to this how to beare the wrath of God the Evangelist in Matthew 26.38 shewes the explication of both these My soule is exceeding heavie tarrie yee here and watch with mee my soule is heavie even unto the death that is my soule is besieged and beset and
hell and condemnation every beleeving soule of you Do not think that God will passe by poore little ones no he will not lose one of you but he will in his appointed time helpe and deliver you therfore be not troubled not dismaied but resolve of this and say I shall bee delivered therefore let my soule be for ever cheared what would you have and what doe you feare Is it your sinnes doe you think that they beare you an old grudge and they will bee clamouring up to heaven against you and complaining of you at the throne of grace doe you feare them so you may justly because of that secret sliding off from the truth Oh saist thou my errand is done in heaven before this time and my sins knocke at heaven gates and say Justice Lord I have taken them in their sinnes and therefore as thou art a God of justice execute justice upon a rebellious soule Now therefore remember that Jesus Christ hath suffered he hath taken thy sinnes upon him and hath suffered the punishments of them 1 Iohn 2.1 Little children sinne not at all It were to be wished that a man might be alwayes humble and poore in spirit and doe all good against the evill done to him and it were to be wished that a man could walke exactly before God but it is not possible so long as we have this body of death it will shew it selfe but if we doe sinne we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the just he is gone to heaven to tell the Father that all is fully answered and he saith Father save all those poore soules whom thou hast given mee I have paid all and answered all for them and therefore Father I will that all that thou hast given mee may be with me where I am that they may behold my glory thus he plead for he doth not plead as we doe but he saith Father I will now if there be any crie against the soule by reason of sinne Christ stops it sinne pleads and Christ pleads and who will prevaile thinke you therefore be not discouraged we have an Advocate with the Father the sinnes of your dreames this last night they have done your errands in heaven before you did awake but let them plead what they can wee have an Advocate with the Father in Heaven and he pleads our cause in heaven and he will prevail in whatsoever he pleads for he will be heard all the pleas of sin shal be fully answered Heb. 12.22 23 24. ye are not come to the mount that might not be touched nor unto burning fire c. But ye are come unto the mount Zion to the citie of the living God and to the Spirits of just and perfect men and to Iesus Christ the Mediatour of the new Testament and to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel what did the blood of Abel speake see that in Gen. 3.9 10. where is Abel thy brother said the Lord and he answered I cannot tell am I my brothers keeper Oh thou wretch saith the Lord the voyce of thy brothers blood crieth to me from the earth for vengeance against thee thus all our sinnes doe speake but there are some sinnes that crie and say Lord this soule is taken to bee a Christian and a Professer and one that hath some grace but Lord against knowledge and conscience and the directions of the Ministers hee hath sinned thus and this therefore good Lord execute judgement upon him but now here is your comfort you poore Saints I confesse these wretched corruptions of your hearts play the backe friends with you many times but we have the blood of Christ that cries for mercy and pardon and refreshing and forgivenesse sinne pleads and saith Lord doe me justice against such a soule but the blood of Christ saith I am abased and humbled and I have answered all Christ shall be heard and if he plead the cause the day is certainly yours and hee pleads without any fees and his blood speaketh on your behalfe and your sinnes shall never be heard against you but what sticks upon your stomackes Object Oh you have heard that the Lord is a just God hee is so hee is holy and blessed and of pure eyes that cannot endure to behold any polluted or uncleane thing and if God be strict to marke what is done amisse who can abide it Oh then say you you have these sinnes and corruptions and God is pure and you are polluted and you have many secret windings and turnings and devices and you say God knowes all the crevices of my heart and sees all the frame of my soule and if the Lord marke what is done amisse nay hee will marke what is done amisse Who then shall be able to stand How shall I be able to answer it especially considering that Satan saith I have sinned and why should I not be cast out as well as others have beene cast out that have sinned Lord execute justice upon them as they have deserved how shall wee helpe ourselves herein yes admirably for then the blood of Christ comes in and that satisfies all Gal. 5.22.23 The fruits of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse meeknesse temperance faith against such there is no law so it is here there is no law nor no condemnation to beleevers truly penitent for their sins there is no punishment to them nor no wrath to execute judgement upon them because the debt is paid and the Lord is just and cannot and righteous and will not doe it but saith the Devill thou hast sinned and why shalt thou not bee condemned for it but saith justice hold thy tongue Satan for there is no law against them that repent what troubles you now Answer Why the very truth is the thoughts of Hell astonish my heart me thinkes I see a little peep-hole downe into hell and the devils roaring there being reserved in chaines under darknesse untill the judgement of the great day and me thinkes I see the damned flaming and Iudas and all the wicked of the world and they of Sodome and Gomorah there they lie roaring and damnation takes hold upon them and the wrath of God finks them downe to hell Now I have sinned and therefore why should not I be damned and why should not the wrath of God bee executed against mee I answer the death of Christ acquits thee of all and although the wrath of God be of admirable power and force yet you shall bee acquitted by the death of the Lord Jesus Revelations 20. â—â— Blessed and holy is he that hath a part in the first resurrection for on such the second death shall have no power that is wicked men and the ruffians of the world that scorne all commands and despise all the ordinances of God and the lawes of men and neither of them can take place in their hearts they breake all bonds and cast away all commands and the
faith therefore say they in the whole course of Scripture faith is cast upon the Godhead as Esay 50.10 Who so is wise amongst you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voyce of his servant he that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay himselfe upon his God all the phrase of Scripture runs thus Trust and hope and rely upon the Lord. So Iohn 14.1 2. vers Let not your hearts be troubled yee beleeve in God beleeve also in mee marke this Now did a man beleeve upon the Father as Father onely then hee did not beleeve upon the Sonne or did he beleeve onely upon the Sonne as Sonne then he did not beleeve upon the Father but in that hee beleeves upon the Father and the Sonne It is therefore plaine that he fals first upon the Godhead and seeing it is so that wee must beleeve upon the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost therefore we are not to beleeve upon one of them only but upon the whole Deity and the divine nature and all the three Persons in the divine nature for as the Schoolemen say that which doth appertaine to this as this belongs to this and to none other Now we beleeve in all the whole Trinitie and therefore wee close with all three the Father Sonne and holy Ghost and hence it is that these Divines observe that when we are said to beleeve in the Scriptures and in the promise not that any doe it properly but so farre as the promise that God in Christ revealing and promising and communicating himselfe so farre we beleeve in the promise that is in his faithfulnesse truth and mercy revealed in the promise The second reason which they alleage is this say they that which in reason must stay satisfie the soule of a beleever it is that in reason to which the soule must first betake it selfe and upon which it most first stay it selfe for faith goes out for succour and for good therefore that which only can satisfie faith to that onely it must first goe the beleever is dead in sinnes because of the commission of them but there is life in God therefore to an infinite God the soule comes to worke an infinite satisfaction for him which all creatures cannot doe in this case the Godhead prepares the humane nature and workes by the humane nature and gives power to the humane nature and makes it able to suffer and to satisfie faith sees that he hath offended an infinite God and deserved punishment of an infinite value therefore hee must repaire to him that can onely repaire in mercy to his soule therefore saith the Prophet David Psalme 130.7 verse Hope in the Lord for ever for with the Lord is plenteous redemption and in Esay 26.4 Trust in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength wee have everlasting miseries and troubles and distempers but with the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength therefore trust in him for ever nay hence it is that our Saviour saith Iohn 17.3 This is life eternall that they know thee to bee the very God and whom thou hast sent even Iesou Christ Now if you aske me which of these judgements I follow I answer because I love not to bee as a man that is here and there and no where in truth but I love to bee as a man that dwels at home for I am not ignorant that many Divines wise and learned whose parts and gifts I reverence they follow the former opinions and for my part I leave a judicious hearer to take which side he will but in truth the two last arguments have prevailed with me that the heart of a poor sinner beleeves and stayes it selfe firstly upon the Godhead and Deity and afterwards upon the Humanitie and mee thinkes the two former arguments seeme not to compell any mans understanding for bee it granted that the former Scriptures doe reveale the Lord Jesus Christ and mention him often as man yet it is as true they reveale him to bee God and mention his Godhead not mentioning at all his humanitie but whensoever they doe mention his humanitie firstly it is for good reason partly by way of prophecie to foretell of Christ what hee should be and partly by way of story and relation to relate of Christ what he was yet this reason inferres not that faith must therefore firstly lay hold upon the humanitie before the deitie but when the Lord is pleased to reveale Jesus Christ to the soule in the way of conversion then wee must apprehend Christ as God and Man in the point of conversion and then let the question be this whither the soule shall goe for that which it wants Now I see no reason why the soule should firstly goe to the humanity for what it wants and seekes hence it is that when the Scripture comes to speake in the way of conversion the Godhead is set first as in the 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe as God in Christ reconciles the world unto himselfe so God reveales himselfe to his faithfull Ministers and so they reveale him to the people it was the Godhead that was offended and must first of all be pleased and unto that God we must first goe for what we want so Ieremy 33.16 In those dayes Iudah shall be saved and Israel shall bee saved and this is the Name whereby they shall call him the Lord our righteousnesse so said the Angell they shall call his Name Emanuel which is by interpretation God with us this is to the first reason now to the second argument I answer thus If it bee good in reason that wee must first goe to the humane nature for these reasons propounded and if this be sufficient to call my faith that way because all the great workes are wrought that way then much more seeing the humane nature was inabled to the worke by the divine nature therefore my faith must first looke that way because the weight of the worke lies upon the Deitie the humane nature cannot assume to take to it selfe this glory not bee any way available to satisfie divine justice but that the Deitie enabled it and therefore faith must first of all looke unto that Thus it is confessed that the soule of a beleever is advanced to a marvellous high privilege now the use of it is referred to these three heads Vse 1 First are the soules of the faithfull come thus neere to Christ not onely to beleeve in him and to embrace him but to bee one Spirit with him then this may bee a use of instruction and it shewes to us that the sinnes of the faithfull are marvellous hainous in Gods account and exceeding grievous to his blessed Spirit that hath come so neere to us and brought us so neere unto himselfe every sinne is as a mountaine or as a wall of separation but the sinnes of the faithfull are no lesse than rebellion not
how also it should bee implanted into him being called by the Spirit of God in vocation wee have heretofore fully and largely discussed and concluded that point then wee came to the second thing which is the second part of this implanting or ingrafting a sinner into the Lord Jesus Christ and it is the growing to of a sinner with our Saviour and that is accomplished and fully brought about by two workes there are two parts of it for it is not enough for the graft to be put into the stock but it must grow together with it if ever there be any conveyance of any sap or any helpe and strength which it may receive from the same so it is with the beleeving soule faith doth not onely bring us unto Christ but it makes us grow together with Christ and this growing is discovered in two particulars The first is a spirituall union of the soule with our Saviour when the soule comes to be united to and made one with the Lord of life that wee have also handled and concluded in the two last lectures Againe the second part that accomplisheth and makes up this growing together with Christ it is that heavenly communion that the soule doth get with our Saviour when the stock of the merits of our Saviour and the vertue of his grace is communicated to the soule for this we must remember that these two things make up the growing of the stock and the graft together First there must be an union of the graft with the stock Secondly there must be an intercourse or a communication of the sap in the stock to the graft so it is with Christ what ever he hath he hath for his Church and people and what ever he doth he doth for his Church and servants so that there is a kinde of conveyance of the vertue of his merits and power of his grace unto the soules of those that beleeve in him and are knit unto him by a true and a lively faith wee have done with the 〈◊〉 that the soule hath with Christ we are now to speake of the heavenly and spirituall communion the intercourse betweene the Lord and the soule when the soule is married unto him and this is that wee aime at this is that wee looke at at this time and this I must tell you by the way that our purpose is not to meddle with the particulars at this time but onely with the generall nature of the communion of the soule with Christ now for the discovery of this worke wee have chosen the words of the text now read unto you and the scope of the words it is mainly this to discover unto us the dowrie and feofment of all that spirituall grace that is conveyed and made sure to the beleeving soule being made one with the Lord Jesus that looke as it is with a man that hath a faire estate to himselfe it is only his owne but when the wife is wooed and brought home married he gives over the right of himselfe unto her and if hee make over his estate unto her shee hath title thereunto this now is the dowry of a Christian the Lord Jesus Christ is no bad match you must not thinke you could have done better it is a wonder that ever our Saviour would take us to himselfe or shew favour to us but the case is cleare if a beleever be called and brought home to Christ Christ is made to us wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption Christ hath all and whatsoever Christ hath it is all yours you have title thereunto and shall receive sap and benefit therefrom if you have hearts to take that good God offers and you may receive wee will not now meddle with the severals in the verse but these two things must be specially attended to in the words that we may make way for our selves in the point we have to trade withall First take notice of the compasse of that happinesse and spirituall grace which God vouchsafeth unto his and it is ranged into foure heads the text saith Christ is made unto us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption all that Christ hath or can communicate all that the beleeving soule can desire or want may be referred to these foure First Wisdome that is the declaration of the way of God and eternall happinesse in and through the Lord Jesus Christ which all the policie of all cunning men and all subtill pates in the world could never pry into that wisdome which revealed the secret things and the deepe things of God the Lord Jesus is made that wisdome to the beleeving soule Secondly Christ is made unto us righteousnesse that is whatsoever guilt lieth upon us whatsoever sinne hath beene committed by us what ever punishment wee have deserved Christ is made unto us righteousnesse to acquit us of all Thirdly Christ is made unto us sanctification the soule of a poore sinner is defiled with many corruptions and polluted with many distempers now Christ is made unto him sanctification to purge and purifie him from all those sinnes and distempers Lastly because while we wander up and downe this vale of teares and in this pilgrimage of ours wee shall bee oppressed with many evils that will lye upon us and death it selfe which is the last enemy will seize upon us and captivate our bodies in the grave therefore Christ is made unto us redemption he will take away all trouble and wipe all teares from our eyes nay hee will breake open the grave and deliver his Saints from thence The Heathen to make the Saints of God sure in time of persecution they first slew them and then they burnt their bodies to ashes and then threw them into the water and then they said Let us now see how they will rise againe alas poore creatures why the Lord loves the very dust the very ashes of his Saints in the grave and the Lord will redeeme our bodies from the grave and our names from dishonour and our lives from trouble and our soules from sinne and will set us free from all miseries and inconveniences at the great day of account these are the foure things wherein the dowry and feofment of a beleeving soule consists I will not now trade in the particulars but only in the generall and shew how that every beleeving soule that rests upon Christ by faith hath an interest in these The second thing considerable is this to whom all these things belong and the text tels us Christ is made all this to us and the truth is it is made over to all beleevers there is not one man exempted not one man excluded every beleeving creature hath a part and portion herein however the holy Apostle crowds in for a share and if wee looke into the 26 27 28. verses wee shall see to whom this belongs Ye know your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mightie not many noble are called but God
the Lord humbled him mightily so when the Lord comes to meet with an old loose adulterer and an old base drunkard and a sturdy persecutor as Paul was an ordinary stroke will not doe the worke therefore as he had a great deale of mercy for Paul so hee had a great deale to doe before hee could humble Paul hee flung him off his horse as he was posting to Damascus and might have broken his neck againe men sometimes are driven to great trials and straights as when God cals men to great trials and sufferings now God doth apply to every man according to his estate and condition he that God hath set as a commander in his Church as a Minister to teach and a Magistrate to rule and a master of a family Gods fits graces unto them according to their estates the Lord takes measure of a mans estate as it were and suits him proportionably with all graces necessary for his condition againe they that are meaner and poorer they shall have wisdome and sanctification and redemption but answerable to their conditions that is observable Ephes 4.16 Paul there calling our Saviour Christ the head of the Church and his faithfull servants the members of this head hee saith By whom all the members being knit together according to their effectuall working in their measure they receive increase as for example in the body so much life and spirit as belongs to the finger is in the finger but there is more in the arme than in the finger and more in the bulk of the body than in the arme that which suits with such a part it hath it and that which suits with such a part nature bestowes it there is not so much in the finger as in the hand nor so much in the hand as in the arme nor so much in the arme as in the body because it is not sutable and proportionable nature will not doe it God will not suffer it so some Christians are armes in the body of the Church some fingers some legs some are strong Christians that beare up a great weight in profession stout and strong and resolute and the like now the Lord communicates all grace and mercy sutable for every mans place and condition thou that art a finger shalt have so much grace as befits a finger and thou that art an hand thou shalt have so much grace as shall save thee and is fit for thy place but another is an arme and hee shall have more but all shall have that which is fitting therefore the text saith Christ is made unto us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption that looke as a man that makes a garment hee takes measure of the man for whom he makes it and fits every part according to the part of the body the arme of the doublet is sutable to the arme of the body and so Christ is made righteousnesse and sanctification to all poore beleeving creatures thou art an arme in the body of Christ hee is made so much wisdome and sanctification to thee as will serve thy turne thou hast had a great many sinnes and hast beene a rioter and a roister before God opened thine eyes and brought thee home to himselfe why there is great mercy in Christ sutable to thy sinnes there is mercy in Christ to justifie thee if thou hast never so few sinnes and there is mercy enough in Christ to justifie the greatest sinner if hee can but beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the second passage in this article of agreement in the tenure of the conveyance of grace from Christ to the soule the Lord hath enough for all and he doth communicate what is fit and proportionable to every mans estate and condition The third thing is this as the Lord doth communicate what is fit so he doth preserve what hee doth bestow and communicate and give to the beleeving soule hee doth not give grace to the beleeving soule and there leave him and let him manage his estate but when hee hath wrought grace in the soule he preserves it and nourisheth his owne worke Psal 16.5 there the Prophet David saith The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and he maintaineth my lot he doth not only give him his lot but he maintaines his lot it is a comparison taken from the children of Israel when they came into the land of Canaan it was divided to every tribe by lot now God did not onely bring them into the land and give them their lot but he maintained that lot he defended them and releeved them from the fury and rage of their adversaries that went about to take away that which God had bestowed upon them now the Psalmist saith The Lord is my portion and hee maintaineth my lot every beleeving soule hath a lot and portion in Christ so much grace and holinesse and so much assurance now the Lord doth not onely give this but when you are weake and feeble the Lord keeps your grace and preserves your grace which hee hath bestowed upon you therefore Christ is said to be the preserver of his Church Iude 1. To you that are called and sanctified preserved by Iesus Christ Christ is not only the giver of grace but he is the preserver of his Church and that is the meaning of that phrase when our Saviour had implanted grace in the heart of Peter he did not only plant it by his Spirit but he watered it by his prayers that it might not wither away I have prayed that thy faith faile not hee did not only give him faith that was not enough but he watered his faith by his prayers that it might not wither and dye and decay 1 Pet. 1.4 hence it is said that hee preserves us by the power of God through faith unto salvation and faith keeps the soule and Christ keeps faith faith is the hand that layes hold upon Christ and Christ layes hold upon faith and wee have a kingdome preserved for us and he preserveth us for it and this is the pith of that phrase Psal 1. the text saith The righteous man is like the tree planted by the rivers side that brings forth fruit in due season whose leafe shall not fade he doth not say his sap shall not wither but his leafe shall not wither not onely that gracious disposition of heart which is wrought shall never decay in the Saints of God but a zealous profession shall never decay in conclusion how ever a tree be nipt with the cold and frost yet in conclusion it will bud forth againe so the sap of grace that Christ workes in us and conveyeth to us being planted by the fountaine of the Lord Jesus in the midst of persecution and fiery triall they shall grow humble and meeke and holy in despight of what can befall them for a Christian is not conquered when hee loseth his life but when he loseth his grace as take a man that is led into captivitie into Turkie into Algeir
is not my basenesse that hinders mee but my corruptions that oppose the worke of grace in my soule and that will be my bane I know that God is able to doe what is needfull and Christ is willing to doe what he is able to those that beleeve in him and rest upon him but this proud heart opposeth the worke of his grace and the operation of his Spirit my minde is so blinde that nothing in the world takes place my heart is still polluted and my distempers still hang upon mee nay sometimes my soule is wearie of the good word of the Lord that would pluck them from me insomuch that I could almost bee content to pluck out my heart and will the Lord shew mercie to mee that oppose mercie and will the Lord make mee partaker of his redemption that resists the worke of his redemption I answer God hath appointed Christ for this purpose and Christ hath undertooke this worke therefore if God hath appointed it and Christ will worke it who can hinder it thy ignorance cannot hinder the Lord Jesus Christ if hee will teach thee hee will inlighten thy blinde minde and convince that stubborne heart of thine nay all the corruptions under heaven cannot oppose this worke of God hee hath appointed it and hee hath power to pull downe a stout stomack and bee hath power to sanctifie a polluted heart corruptions are many and temptations fierce but if he will redeeme who can destroy if he sanctifie who can pollute if he justifie who can condemne this is the worke of a Saviour if Christ will doe it none can hinder it if God hath appointed it nothing can let it but it is the worke of a Christ and God hath appointed it therefore cheare up thy heart in the consideration hereof you that are the Saints of God cast off all those cavils and pretences against the power of Christ and his grace and goe out of your selves and see the privileges that God vouchsafes unto you and reason thus with your selves It is true Lord my heart is naught and I have no power my minde is blinde and I have no wisdome but I know that Christ is made wisdome to mee and thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ to be made wisdome and sanctification to the soule of thy servant though sin pollute me yet Christ can sanctifie mee though the guilt be great yet the pardon of a Christ is greater than the guilt and where sinne abounds grace abounds much more therefore lift up your selves and cheare up your hearts and goe away comfortably what is awanting God will give what hee gives he will maintaine what hee maintaines hee will quicken what hee quickens hee will perfect and he will crowne you and your grace and all in the kingdome of heaven for ever what would you have in this kinde nay let mee speak one thing more Hee is the redeemer of his servants what is that why the Scripture saith the last enemy of all is death and that is the aime of all the wicked that is the worst they can doe now in Saint Matthew Christ saith Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevaile against it the gates of hell what 's that it was the fashion among the Jewes as our sessions and assises are kept in the market place so their place of meeting was at the gates so that when he saith The gates of hell shall not prevaile against it his meaning is this when Beelzebub and all the Devils in hell shall joyne together to destroy the Church all the policie of all the Devils in hell shall not prevaile the worst they can doe is to bring them unto death but Christ will bee redemption unto them art thou in captivity he will free thee art thou in persecution he will deliver theeâ— nay when thy body shall lye downe in the grave though the Heathen said when they had burnt the bodies of Gods Saints and throwne them into the water Let us now see how they will rise againe they were deceived thou must be contented for Christ will redeem that dust and say to the earth Give up and to the sea Give up thy dead deliver up the bodies of my servants let their sinews and bones come together and body and soule shall come together and enjoy happinesse in heaven together for evermore if then neither the guilt of sinne can condemne us nor the filth of sinne pollute us if neither misery nor persecution can hurt us then goe away not only comfortably but triumphantly into persecution and prison into holes and caves and dens of the earth Christ will bee all in all unto you in grace here and in glorie hereafter therefore let this comfort you Vse 3 In the third place it is the use the holy Ghost here makes Is it so that there is a conveyance of all grace from Christ to the beleever hee doth what he doth by him and hath what he hath from him then it is a word of instruction to teach us all to lye downe in the dust let no man glorie in man but let him that glories glorie in the Lord this is the maine collection the Apostle inferres God hath chosen the foolish and base things of the world that no man might glorie in flesh as who should say it is not my parts but Christ it is not my abilities but mercie it is not what I can doe but what Christ will performe therefore if Christ then bee Author of all wee have or can doe let him receive all the honour and praise of all we have or doe doth the Lord worke all our workes in us and for us then let him receive the tribute due to his Name and take nothing to your selves away with that proud heart that bars God of his honor and praise and of the due which indeed belongs unto him and ought to be performed by all his servants dost thou thinke the Lord will bestow all his favour upon thee and worke all for thee and thou in the meane time pranke up thy selfe and lift up thy crest no I charge you you Saints of God as to know your owne privileges to be thankfull for them so to know your owne unworthinesse and to lie downe in the dust and be abased for ever and to give God the honour due unto his Name Revel 4.8 The foure and twentie Elders fell downe and laid downe their crownes at the Lambes feet and said Thou onely art worthy to receive all honour and glory and praise If wee had a thousand crownes never so much honour and riches and credit and abilities fling away all at the foot of Christ let him have all the praise thou art worthy Lord we are unworthy thy assistance wee have received thy comfort thou hast continued and thou art worthy of all the honour in that thou hast beene pleased to worke any worke in us and by us to the praise of
of the Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father by faith and this must bee done at the doore of the Tabernacle the meaning is he is a common Saviour to all beleevers that as it is in a common ground every one hath a share in it and every borderer though never so poore may come and put on and feed his cattle as well as the best so here every poore beleever may come and feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ therefore the Apostle in the 3. verse of Iude cals it the common salvation not common to all the wicked and unbeleevers but to all the faithfull that border upon the promises and doe beleeve in them it is common to them all and the man that offered the sacrifice was to lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice and there to confesse all the sinnes of the children of Israel this was the unburthening himselfe of his sinne and laying it upon the head of the sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ that so what wee are not able to beare hee may beare for us and answer divine justice for us and so there was another ceremony Leviticus 16.21 Of the scape goat there were two sacrifices to bee offered the one was to bee a burnt offering and the other was to escape Aaron was to put his hand upon the head of the live goat and to confesse over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and their trespasses putting them upon the head of the live goat and shall send him away by the hand of a man appointed into the wildernesse so the goat shall beare upon him all the iniquities to a land not inhabited and the other was to be offered up for a burnt offering this was the type now the intendment of the ceremony was this the goat was the Lord Jesus Christ and when Aaron did put his hands upon the head of the goat and confesse over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and did put them upon the head of the goat it was thus much God the Father did charge all the sinnes of all the world upon the Lord Jesus Christ even of all from the beginning of the world to the end of it and did put them all upon the Lord Christ and howsoever he was a sacrifice for sinne yet hee was a scape goat and hath escaped out of the hands of hell and death and is now in Heaven and with him all beleevers shall escape from hell and death by the power of his merits Further ye see how the Prophet expounds the Law Esay 53.4 5. We thought him afflicted and buffetted for himselfe but he was wounded for our sins and broken for our iniquities hee was neglected amongst the wicked and they judged him as smitten for his owne sins but he was wounded for our sins imputed to him that wee through him might bee eased thereof and therefore the Text saith Hee bore our iniquities and me thinkes it hath reference to the scape goat and it is that which the Apostle doth peremptorily say Heb. 7.22 He was made a suretie of a better covenant Now the suretie hath not onely the payment to make but hee is accounted as the debtor the debt is laid to his charge as well as the payment is required thus the point is proved Now for the better discovery of this Doctrine let me doe two things First I will shew after what manner God did this and what is the behaviour of the Lord when hee chargeth the sinnes of the faithfull upon Christ Secondly I will shew the reasons of it why God the Father did so whereby it shall appeare that it is reasonable and it doth wonderfully magnifie the Justice and mercy of God Quest. 1 For the first if a man aske me what God the Father doth when hee chargeth the sinnes of the faithfull upon Christ Answer I answer this act carries three things in it or God brings about the worke by a threefold act First God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ made a mutuall decree and purpose that so many should beleeve they should bee saved And they did not only purpose this but they did make a mutuall agreement betweene themselves that the Lord Jesus Christ should take the care of those soules to make them beleeve and to save them by beleeving and the Lord Jesus Christ undertooke the worke according to their compact God the Father said I will have these children saved and Christ saith I will take the care of them Iohn 10.14 15 16. It s strange to see how our Saviour there speakes of his Office in the 14. verse he saith I am the good Shepheard and know mine and am knowne of mine that is I know those that are committed to my charge and knowledge even as the shepherd knowes his sheepe but how doth the Lord Christ know who God the Father will have to be saved looke verse 15. As the Father knoweth me so know I the Father and wee have agreed amongst our selves that so many shall bee saved The Father hath said I will have so many soules saved and Christ saith those soules shall bee my care and charge and in the 16. verse hee saith Other sheeâ— I have also which are not of this sold them also must I bring and they shall heare my voyce when the Father hath revealed that so many in such a place and so many in such a place shall bee saved then the Lord Christ undertakes the care of them and he calls at such a doore and saith I must have that poore drunken creature and he must be humbled and broken hearted and he must beleeve and he calls at such a doore and findes the adulterer in the armes of the harlot and hee saith I must have that unclean wretch I must humble him for his sinnes and I must make a separation betweene him and his sinnes A good shepheard will have a care of his sheep and will fetch them wheresoever they be as it was with David He did fetch his prey from the mouth of the Lion so though there were never so many baits to allure a man yet if the Lord Christ intend to save him hee will fetch him out of the mouth of the Lion and he saith that poore soule is mine I have taken the charge of him and therefore I must have him and he must heare my voice nay he shall heare my voyce Many times you have turned the deafe eare upon Christ and hee calls and knocks and yet that will not serve the turne untill hee breakes in upon the soule by horrour of heart therefore God the Father commits the care of all those wandring soules to the charge of Christ and hee will have them by one means or other As it is with a Husbandman that hath a great flocke of sheepe and he saith to his sonne loe I commit the care of them to thee loe here they are I would have thee to be carefull of them the number thou knowest and the
the suit against the partie offending our Saviour steps into our roome and submits himselfe to the censure of the Father and as we were accounted so he was content to bee accounted and as we were to suffer so he was content to suffer for us God the Father loved him as he was God and holy and innocent yet he condemnes him and lets in his wrath upon him as he was to beare our sins for God the Father might love Jesus Christ and yet give his body to death naturall so God the Father might love the soule of our Saviour and yet give it over to paine supernaturall all the world confesseth that it was without anger that Christ died and yet the Father slew him this conclusion helps us to the interpretation of that place Matthew 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee He was a Father to our Saviour and our Saviour a Son to him Fourthly whatsoever punishment proceeded from the Father our Saviour tooke it upon himselfe yet so as neither his sins deserved it neither did he sinne in bearing of it nor yet was hee overwhelmed in bearing of it as the wicked are which are damned but hee wrestled with it and overcame it hee first tooke upon himselfe that should have come upon a beleever when the wrath of God comes out like a Lion to take the sinfull sons of men from off the earth and the sea of his indignation flowes in amain then the Lord Jesus Christ steps in between the wrath of the Father and the soule of a beleever and hee bears all Iohn 18.11 when Peter would have rescued our Saviour from the high Priests Our Saviour said suffer it to bee so put up thy sword into its place shall I not drinke of the cup which my Father giveth me to drinke of hee doth not say shall I not sip or taste of the cup but shall I not drinke of it that is he drinkes the cup of wrath which was prepared for poore sinners cleane off therefore Esay 63.3 hee is said to tread the wine-presse of the Fathers wrath alone he did squeese it all out observe these explications in this kinde and know thus much that the want of the sense and feeling and operation of Gods love and the feeling of the indignation of Gods wrath in it selfe considered it is not a sinne but so far as our sinnes deserve this wrath of God and deserve this separation and so far as we out of our infidelitie dash the sweetnesse of Gods love we sin in this kinde but none of all this befell our Saviour the bare want of the one and the sense of the other is not a sinne but we sin in bearing it It is a sweet observation of the Schoolmen that our Saviour cried my God my God even in the losse of the sweetnesse of Gods favour and when Christ complaines and sweat water and blood yea clods of blood so that his heart broke within him under the fierce indignation of the Lord this fierce indignation may be attended two wayes or there are two things in it I say in the separation of God from the soule there are these two things to be attended First a want of that grace and holinesse and confidence whereby the soule should close with God that howsoever God goes away yet the soule should follow him as Iacob did after the Lord when hee said I will not let thee goe unlesse thou blesse mee Now it is one thing when God goes away and it is another thing when we push him away therefore that want of grace and holinesse and confidence whereby the soule should cleave to and close with God this is one thing which causeth the separation of God from us this is on our part Secondly there is another worke on Gods part that howsoever the soule stands Godward and Christward and it cleaves to him as Iob did that would trust in him though he kild him yet God may withdraw the sweet refreshing operation and the sensible conveyance of his mercy and compassion from his soule and he frownes upon him and plucks away the hold and lets in his indignation upon him the first of these two can never bee without sinne and it is a hainous sinne when our soules sit loose from God and when we shall separate our selves from the mercy and goodnesse of God and are weary of Gods presence in his ordinances as many wicked men are and are weary of the promises and say as those in Iob did Depart from us for wee desire not the knowledge of thy wayes this is a cursed sinne and this never was nor could not be in our Saviour but now that the Lord may plucke away the sense of his love and favour and take away the operation and conveyance of his mercy this God may justly doe as he seeth good this was not a sinne in Iob that God did take away the sense of his love and mercy and seemed to be his enemy but if Iob had gone away from God as God did from him then he had sinned but hee held God still this was not a sinne in Iob that God did thus forsake him though haply it was through his sinne deserving it all this did befall our Saviour Christ and yet he was full of holinesse and hangs upon God and said My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And God was angry with him because he had our sinnes upon him but the first of these was not in Christ hee did not depart from God the second was inflicted upon our Saviour and that might be justly this ads much light to those passages those two ardent petitions of those two worthy lights Moses and Saint Paul Exodus 32.32 Moses perceiving that the Lord was ready to destroy the Israelites for their sinne he saith Now if thou pardon this sinne thy mercy shall appeare but if thou will not then rase mee out of the booke of life which thou hast written and in Rom. 9.3 Saint Paul foreseeing the rejection of the Jewes and that God would throw them away for sixteen hundred yeeres together the good man seeing the dishonour that was like to come to God the utter destruction of the people of the Jewes he saith I could even desire to be separated from Christ to be cut off from the Nation of the Iewes that they might not be forsaken of God Now should a man pray to be removed out of Gods presence and to be separated from God for ever and to be cut off from God and to be separated from Christ Jesus no for this were sinfull either it signifies that Paul should have his heart loosened and sit loose in his affections to God and to Jesus Christ this Paul did not pray for for it is a horrible sinne and it is an argument he hated Christ and himselfe too Now so farre as it implies our want of love to God and our want of depending upon God it is a fearfull sinne and these holy
his body then doe can it bee possible that men should harbour sinne in them if they did but know what it hath done to them can you see it and not haâ—e it Oh behold that sinne which hath caused God the Father to be angry with thy Saviour and doe thou hate it and let thy soule for ever loath thy sinne which hath caused Christ thus to doe to come downe from heaven and to bee tortured by wicked miscreants and to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and as sin hath caused God the Father to punish thy Saviour so goe thou and be revenged upon thy sin and say Oh my pride and my stubbornnesse and my loosenesse and uncleannesse and base drunkennesse these were the nailes that pierced his hands aâ—â— his feet they pierced his sacred body and 〈◊〉 the wrath of God the Father upon his soule therefore let mee bee for ever revenged of this proud stubborne and rebellious heart of mine and let mee for ever loath my sinne because it brought all this sorrow upon my Saviour To presse this use a little more I charge you brethren as ever you had any tender love unto Jesus Christ or any regard of your owne comfort goe your wayes and bee for ever cast downe and humbled for those evill waies of yours which have brought our Saviour to such a gulfe of misery and to be angry with those sinnes that have made God the Father angry with the Lord Jesus Christ and take thou revenge upon that proud stubborne heart that brought all this misery upon thy Saviour This is the course of humanitie amongst men if a man knew of any one which had murthered his father or his friend whom he highly regarded and honoured nature shewes us thus much that our hearts would rise against the man and you would not bee able to brooke the sight of him and you cannot endure to see him in your companies and if law and conscience did not forbid it you could be contented to give him his deaths wound and to bee his bane and you would cry out against him Oh he hath murthered my father or my deere friend and though you would not run upon him and kil him yet this every one would doe he would follow the Law to the uttermost and if all the law in the land will do it he will have him hanged and if he might have it put to his choyce what death hee should die hee would chuse him a death as bad as hee could devise and if he might be his Executioner how would he mangle him and say thou wast the death of my father and then hee would give him one blow for this and another blow for that and say thou wretch thou hast taken away the life of my father and I will have thy life Now is a man thus inraged and is the heart of a man carried with such violence unto him that hath murthered his father or his friend and that for the losse of the naturall life Oh then how should your hearts bee transported with infinite indignation not against the man but even against the sinne which is the cause of all this and which is wholly opposite against God and not onely because it hath taken away the life of the body of our Saviour but also made him undergoe the wrath of an everlasting father your sinnes are they that have thus slaine the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life Therefore follow thou the law against these sins and raise hue and crie after them and bring them to the Sessions and set them before the tribunall of God and crie justice Lord justice against these sins of mine these slew my Saviour Lord slay them they have crucified my Saviour Lord crucifie them let me have life for life body for body and soule for soule these are the sins that have taken away the life from the body of our Saviour and tooke away all comfort from his soule Lord take away their life thus pursue thy sins and never leave them untill thou seest them bleed their last never thinke that thou hast power enough against corruption nor never thinke that thou dost enough against them but give thy corruptions one hacke more and confesse thy sinnes once more and say Lord his pride and this stubbornnesse Lord and this loosenesse of heart Lord these are they that kild my Saviour and I will be revenged of them and herein consider this when your hearts are inclining to any corruption or to any temptation of Satan and when thou findest thy soule drawne aside to any sin and when thou findest some temptings unto corruptions and stirrings of cursed lusts it is good then to have an actuall consideration of what sin hath done to the Lord Jesus Christ and reason thus with thy selfe and say these sins were the death of my Saviour and shall they be my delight these sins did pierce his hands and wounded his soule and shall they give contentment to my soule the Lord forbid did these sinnes plucke teares from his eyes and blood from his heart and shall I make them the delight of my heart the good Lord in mercy forbid it were it so that our hearts were fully and throughly perswaded that all the vanities of our mindes and all the lusts of our hearts and all the distempers of our affections were those that stabd the Lord Jesus Christ and wounded him to the heart it could not be that we should so delight in them and lavish out our soules and affections thereupon nay not onely Christianitie will doe it but nature and reason will even compell a man to doe the contrary could hee but reason thus with himselfe when corruptions tempt him and occasions call him and say thus with himselfe was it not enough and more than enough that the Son of God came downe from Heaven and suffered such grievous pains but shall I againe crucifie the Lord of life and shall I againe pierce those blessed hands of his and pierce that blessed side of his and all goare his sacred body with my uncleane sins and force him to crie out againe by reason of my sinnes which I have committed this is more than brutish and more than savage I beseech you in the bowels of the Lord to consider well of it you know what Christ said when Saul persecuted the poore Saints at Damascus Saul Saul why persecurest thou mee It pierced the Lord Christ when any of his members were pierced Acts 9.4 but now for such as beleeve in Christ and looke for mercy from Christ consider how neerly it will touch him and trouble him not onely to have his members pierced and persecuted but also to have his good Spirit grieved and himselfe to be wounded Imagine you heard the Lord speaking as the Church did in Lamentations 1.12 Is it nothing to you all oh yee that passe by is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow have you no compassion at all upon a Saviour
the mountaines fall on us and to the hils cover us from the presence of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand If any man could beare up himselfe then it were the great ones of the world now take a scantling of your owne strength if any were able to beare the wrath of the Lord it were the kings and the mightie men and the captaines and the rich men of the world but faith the text The day of the Lords wrath is come and who shall bee able to stand It is not the soveraigntie of the king nor the skill and courage of the captaine or the libertie of the freeman or the slavery of the bondman that can deliver them but they all crie to the rocks fall on us and cover us from the presence of the Lord nay that you may yet see the vildnesse and wretchednesse of your hearts and the miserablenesse of your condition when the presence of the Lord appeares see what the text saith Psalme 114.5 7. The sea fled and the earth trembled the hils melted at the presence of the Lord nay the devils themselves tremble as in the 6. and 8. verses of the epistle of Saint Iude The Angels which kept not their first love he hath reserved in everlasting chaines under darknesse to be kept for the judgement of the last day they have their portion for the while but there is a great deale of wrath to come and there are many plagues comming and they know Gods wrath and they shake and tremble in the apprehension of it now when you see this goe home to your owne soules and let every man that would heretofore as his owne conscience can tell him flout God to his face and make a scorn of hell and of judgement and condeÌ„nation go home I say lay this to your owne hearts and say is it so that the mountains shak and the sea shrinks and the devils tremble at the wrath of the Lord good Lord then how shall I be able to beare it that am not able to coÌ„ceive of it nay if any man think that hee is able to undergoe the wrath of God and to bear it off with head and shoulders look but here upon the Lord Jesus Christ that was perfect God and perfect man he that created heaven and earth and bote up the foundation of heaven and earth yet when hee came to beaâ—t the wrath of God it forced teares from his eyes and clodded blood from his body and made him crie out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Doe but now compare your selves with Christ and say did my Saviour buckle under the wrath of God then certainly it will breake you therefore say thou if hee that was the Creator of heaven and earth could not beare it then how shall I be able to beare it when he comes against me for my siâ— and corruption committed by me therefore heart and feare all you stout hearted of the world rather now tremble while you may be comforted than hereafter when you shall never be eased thinke but with your selves how dreadfull that day will be when all the glorious attributes of God shall take their leaves of you he that before had a great deale of mercy and patience and the Lord hath wooed him saying Oh once at last heare and see the things that belong to thy peace there is not one of you all in this congregation but that you have beene compast about with mercies and the justice of God it would have broken out against you had not mercy stepped in to rescue you how easie were it for the Lord to dash us all into the bottomlesse pit every creature of us therefore thanke mercy and patience and forbearance that still you breathe and say blessed bee God that I have to deale with a gracious mercifull and compassionate God that hath kept mee from judgement that I have not ere now perished in it Now thinke with your selves what a day it wil be when mercy shal weep over you take his leave of you say remeÌ„ber thou poore creature how I met thee in thy walkes and kneeled downe before thee and besought thee to take mercy and to be saved and pardoned but thou wouldst not adem therefore this is the last time of asking I will never see thy face more and with that patience as it were buckles under the burthen and saith I have bond with their thus longe I have borne twenty years with some thirtie years with some fortie years with others and all this which I have borne with thee in thy pride and stubbornesse and loosenesse and uncleannesse but now adew never more patience to beare with you what no more mercy nor no more goodnesse saith the soule and they all say no and stake their hands and say adew thou rebellious heart for ever it will make thy heart shake within thee and thou wilt say I shall sinke downe suddenly there is nothing but wrath to bee expected they are all gone to heaven and you must be forever packing to hell Oh feare and feare all you whom it doth concerne this day if so bee Christ cannot beare it then you cannot suffer it but you will sinke under the same for ever Now I come to the reasons of the point in generall why our Saviour suffered paines both in body and in soule then the reasons of it are three and they are all of speciall use Reason 1 First it is taken from the divine justice of God which required this by way of satisfaction as being onely surable and agreeable to the divine justice of God by reason of sinne whereby Adam had intrenched upon the privilege of God the Father every breach of the Law of God intrencheth neerly upon God himselfe and therefore every sinne is of a provoking nature because it is committed against an infinite majestie therefore that divine justice may not be a loser there must be a punishment not onely corporall but also spirituall for justice abates not any thing of the satisfaction God is just and this is justice to give every one his due honour to whom honour belongs and punishment to whom punishment belongs therefore that justice may bee preserved she must inflict these punishments upon our Saviour being in our roome the Jesuites have devised a cavill against this reason say they it needed not that Christ should suffer these for the dignitie of the person of our Saviour may dispence with some part of the punishment and if he beare death it is sufficient he may bee freed from the other paines in his soule Now that this conceit of theirs is a thing marvellous injurious to the justice of God the Father and to the wisedome of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the death of Christ I prove it thus for by the same right that the dignitie of the person of our
Saviour might abate of the punishment by the same right the dignitie of his person might as well take it quite away if one drop of the blood of Christ would save all the world then what needed Christ to have suffered the pains of death for if the dignitie of the person might free him from the one it might free him from the other also but the Law and Justice of God required whatsoever Christ did in his wisedome suffer and the death of Christ was not superfluous and besides the dignitie of the person is to farre from freeing him from the punishment that it fits him to beare the punishment it exempts him not from the punishment but it furnisheth him with abilities to beare it as he must be man that hee may suffer finitely so he must be God that must satisfie infinitely the justice of God requires two things First such a kinde of punishment as may bee sutable to the wrong of the Law by the sinne of Adam that is an infinite punishment Secondly the person must bee such a one as may bee regarded therefore he must bee such a person as must be able to beare the punishment and to satisfie infinitely and to come forth from under it therefore the excellency of Christ as he was God doth not dispence with the punishment but enables him to suffer it as the infinite wrath of God was express and shewed upon man by reason of sinne in laying on this punishment both in body and soule so the infinite sufferings of Christ underwent them both therefore that which divine justice required and without which it is not satisfied that he must suffer but the justice of God did require it and without it the justice of God was not satisfied and therefore Christ did suffer both Object To this argument the Jesuites reply it needed not say they that that curse which Adam did deserve should bee suffered by the second Adam which is Christ for say they God might have pardoned all the sinne of Adam without any satisfaction or else by his infinite wisedome and power he could have provided another way and therfore if Christ suffer but in part it may suffices Answer To which I answer it is a foolish nice and silly curiositie to inquire of Gods absolute power what he might have done and what he had power to doe when we see what he hath done For as hee will save the humble mercifully so hee will preserve his justice in the salvation of man Esay 53.10 The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand and Psalme 40.8 I desire to doe thy will oh my God It is the will of God that Christ should come and should suffer for our sinnes he hath revealed what his will is and it is folly to inquire what God might doe when we see what he hath done and besides this I take to bee an everlasting truth that none of all the attributes of God can ever enterfeere or crosse one another it cannot be for then God should not procure nor maintaine his owne glory for when hee should procure the glory of his justice hee should wrong the glory of his mercy and when he should procure the glory of his mercy hee should wrong the glory of his justice and the glory of his justice must bee preserved as well as the glory of his mercy magnified the mercy of God cannot wrong justice nor the justice of God cannot overpower mercy therefore hence I infer thus much if there were no means in the world whereby the justice of God which had received wrong could be satisfied but only by the sufferings of him who was God and man then it was against the will of God and against the will of Christ which was both God and man and against their glory and dignitie to devise another way or means to pardon sinne without the satisfaction of divine justice it is against his glory power and wisedome to wrong either justice or mercy for he should either have wronged mercy in not pardoning or else wronged justice in not punishing of Christ therefore if there should be no way to doe it but only by the death of him who was both God and man then there was no other way of redemption but this way for an infinite justice being wronged there is no way else to satisfie an infinite justice but by the suffering of him who was infinite and that was onely the Lord Jesus Christ for there was no more infinites in the world I will winde it up thus that punishment which was included in the curse and which was deserved by the first Adam that was suffered by Christ the second Adam but the punishment both of soule and body were the punishments included in the curse and deserved by the sinne of Adam therefore it is borne by the second Adam as certainly as it was deserved by the first Adam Reason 3 The third reason is taken from the office of Christ and the place which he underwent because our Saviour Christ was our suretie and our sinnes were charged upon him and hee became paymaster so that the covenant which hee had made with God the Father bound him to it and his faithfulnesse and truth tied him to it nay he tooke all our sinnes upon him and therefore he must satisfie for thee If the Lord Christ were our suretie and tooke all our sinnes upon him by imputation and the debt was made his then the payment also must be discharged by the Lord Jesus Christ but certainly all your pride and stubbornnesse c. they were all charged upon our Saviour and set upon his soore and laid upon his backe therefore hee must suffer for all because hee was made sinne for all so the issue of the point is this unlesse the Lord Jesus Christ had suffered both in soule and body justice had not beene so fully satisfied but the justice of God required both and the curse included both and therefore Christ suffered both and hath fulfilled whatsoever was or could bee required by divine justice Now to come to the use something must bee said to justifie the riches of Gods free grace the first use shall be this Vse 1 It shall bee a word of confutation and it directly meets with Popish Purgatory a wicked errour that fals like Dagon before the Arke and like clouds dispersed by the Sunne so that sottish imagination is hence condemned by this doctrine it is a dreame devised to picke mens purses and to delude mens consciences and to fill the Popes coffers they thinke that Christ frees every faithfull man from the punishments of hell and from all that any sinne hath devised but onely there are some veniall sinnes and the punishments of those a man must suffer for himselfe and therefore when a man dies hee must goe downe to Purgatorie and there bee purged and cleansed from the evill of them this is that which they say if they can but perswade men that they shall be in Purgatorie
he had so deeply drunke of the cup of affliction he said now it is finished that is now the fierce indignation of the Lord is over Take a little childe or infant new borne and lay it in a little streame if no man come to succour it there can be no hope that it will live not properly because of the water but because the childe is weake and not able to keepe it selfe from being overpowred by the water and therefore there is no hope to have reliefe for it but let a strong man come and he will not be drowned by the streame for hee is of height and strength either to wade thorow it or else to save himselfe by swimming so there is the streame of the indignation of the Lord Now God will not help a poore sinfull creature and he cannot help himselfe therefore the streame will destroy him and there is no hope for he is never able to free himselfe because God will not and he himselfe cannot but the Lord Jesus Christ that hath skill and power because he is God as well as man therefore though he beare the wrath of God yet because hee is able to wade thorow it and to beare it therefore it is that he will deliver himselfe and all us with him Thus ye see that desperation is a consequent that followes from the sinfulnesse and weaknes of the creature and that it is no part of the second death The second part of this conclusion followes and I desire it may bee attended to by all you that are weake ones for this objection doth put many Divines themselves to a stand and yet the case is very cleere so farre as my light and line serves me Secondly the eternitie of the punishments say they for if Christ suffered the pains of the second death then hee must be in hell for ever It is a weake and a sinfull plea I say our Saviour might and did suffer the second death and yet not the eternitie of it I beseech you to take notice of two things herein First you must take notice of the difference betweene the death threatned and the death denounced and betweene the torments of hell also betweene the eternitie of time and the circumstances of time that may bee altered and changed as the debt or punishment is fully suffered or not suffered As for example the time of a mans lying in prison is no part of the payment but he doth lie in prison because hee cannot pay the debt as thus A man is in prison for a thousand pound he must lie in prison ten years because he can pay but a hundreth pound a year but now let a rich man come that can discharge the payment within ten moneths or ten dayes or ten houres it is as well if he doe it in ten houres as if he did it in ten years nay it is better done Just so it is here the debt is this In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death the punishment is death and every poore creature must die the first and second death Now because a poore creature cannot satisfie Gods justice 〈◊〉 this life for if God should but let in the power of his wrath in this life into the soule and fill the soule with his fierce indignation it would kill a man even in this life therefore the Lord by death takes away a poore creature and drags him downe to hell he doth arrest him by conscience here and saith Thou hast sinned and deserved wrath and thou canst not beare my wrath here therefore thou shalt die and be made immortall that thou maist beare it for evermore because a man cannot pay it now therefore he is paying of it to all eternitie for hee is never able to pay and satisfie for the whole summe but now the Lord Jesus Christ hath cash ready at hand and is able to lay downe the payment for all the faithfull to the full hee layes downe the life naturall and hee also suffers the paines of the second death therefore hee is able to deliver himselfe and all those that are his First of all Vse 1. hath our Saviour thus suffered and hath he stepped in betweene the wrath of God the Father and the faithfull Justice saith that foule hath sinned and must be damned and anger saith I must breake out against that poore soule then the Lord Jesus Christ steps in and saith I will beare all and undertake the satisfiing of all I will beare all those punishments due unto them you that are beleevers and have a share in Christ unto you I speake labour thou from hence to see the hainousnesse of sinne and to hate it because it hath brought all this evill upon thy Saviour and would have brought the same upon thee had not the Lord Jesus Christ stepped in betweene thee and the wrath of the Father Oh looke what thy sin hath done unto the Lord Jesus Christ and see if you can love it take contentment in the cōmission of it Let me teach you how to do it send your thoughts afar off and see our Saviour in the garden crying out and saying My soule is exceeding heavie unto the death my soule is even beset with sorrowes oh watch and pray And also when he was in that bitter agonie in the garden And he prayed yet more earnestly and hee stretched out his prayers that it broke his heart almost behold the teares in his eyes and the clodded blood that came from him and his soule was almost broken within him under the fierce indignation of the Lord and he fell upon the ground and yet all this would not doe the deed follow him to the crosse and seeing him attended with the souldiers and pierced thorow with a speare see then if thou canst love thy sinnes that have done all this and further when you have seene him thus nailed to the crosse and pierced thorow with a speare then if you have any hearts of men I doe not say of Christians listen a while and here those hideous cries My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Oh brethren it went very heavy with our Saviour Now imagine that you heard those heart breaking sighes which broke the heavens and let them breake thy heart too Oh goe your wayes home I charge you in the Name of Jesus Christ and answer your owne hearts or rather answer the petitions of our Saviour and say Lord why hast thou forsaken Oh Lord it was for my pride and my contempt of thy word and my despising of holy duties and for the rest of my sinnes I should have beene forsaken and thou wast contented to bee forsaken for me Oh can you consider of this and love your sinnes still which have brought all this misery upon a Saviour if you can love your sins now doe and if you can harbour that pride and stubbornnesse in your hearts which would have pluckt the heart out of Christs body and his soule from